


Healing Hearts and Broken Computer Parts

by Davespritess



Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Changed Relations, Alternate Universe - Everyone's Alive, Alternate Universe - No Sburb, Alternate Universe - No Sgrub, Dead Parent, F/F, F/M, Highschoolstuck, Humanstuck, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Other, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Queer Platonic Partners, Swearing, Tags Will Be Added As They Are Needed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2016-05-20
Packaged: 2018-04-05 10:56:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4177206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davespritess/pseuds/Davespritess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That asshole broke your computer. He broke your last physical memory of her. He's the reason you feel like you lost her all over again, and why your heart has to start healing all over again. You want nothing to do with him.</p><p>In wich Karkat is an asshole and causes Sollux's mom's laptop to break, causing Sollux to go into a downward spiral. Neither want anything to do with the other, but of course both of them have the shittiest of luck.</p><p>Second Person, main ship/focus is on Solkat.</p><p>Potential Return of this Fic, we'll see.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Im still learning to do proper spacing and coding so forgive me if its off and let me know if anything should be fixed. Thanks a bunch!  
> Also let it be known this is my first fic in a few months so uh. Yeah. 
> 
> Warnings for; heavy repetition, death mention , swearing, mother mention, father mention, step-father and step-sibling/brother, food mention, Gods name in vain, Threats, Murder Mention, Death Wishes, Karkat.

_beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep._

Yes, you do plan to let that go on forever.

_beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep._

Ah yes, don't you just love that feel when you're too lazy to turn something off but its giving you a migraine?

_beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep._

Alright, fuck this.

With an aggrivated groan, you sat up and kicked the alarm so hard that it may have broken against the wall. Not that you gave a shit, if you never had to hear the damn thing again it'd be too soon. With another, louder groan, you realized why you're migraine was so unusually painful at this moment. You forgot to take your fucking meds last night- good fucking job Captor. This is why you wake up feeling like you're dying every morning.

With a sigh of defeat, you picked up the numerous bottles you kept by your bed and downed double your morning dose of each- too make up for missing it the previous night. Of course you dry swallowed, which left an acid burn in your throat. Not that you gave a shit, you'd drown the burn with water or some shit when you got downstairs.

Carefully, you picked your way through your boxes of shit until you got to the one that contained your clothes, and carefully opened it up. Lucky you it was also the one with your laptop and bag in it- you guess it was your school box. How nice of your dad to do that for you, because you obviously weren't fucking smart enough to pack a school box to make shit easier on day one.

You pulled the shit on top out, and some clothes. You tossed everything not-clothing onto your matress, and headed into the hall to find the damn bathroom. You had no idea where it was. The joys of moving into a new house in the middle of the night. You're totally lost in every single way. Oh, there is just enthusiasm coming off of you in _waves._

It took you _forever_ to get ready, partially because you where horrified at the clothes you had grabbed, partially because you had to clean your braces. And travelling for over a day to get here meant you had to take extra time on them. God you hated these things. Then again, you hated pretty much everything.

When you were finally ready you trudged back to your room and threw your shit in your bag, before dragging it down the hall and stairs into the kitchen.

Your step-brother sat down there already, looking wide awake and maybe even happy. How the hell could someone be happy this early in the morning.

You left your bag at the entrance and slunk through the kitchen, looking for a glass and hoping to be left alone.

But of course, your luck was low. As always. 

"Morning Sol." Someone greeted. 

At the nickname, you whirled around. It definitly wasn't your dad who called you that- ignoring the fact he was the only one you allowed, he only called you that when you where _really_ upset.

Your eyes where blazing with anger as you stared at the only other two people in the kitchen. Your step-brother was nonchalantly eating his pancakes, only stopping to check that his hairclips where still holding his hair back.

Slowly, your gaze turned to the last person. God, you hated this person so much. So _fucking_ much.

He looked confused, and almost scared. Good, you wanted him to be scared. If he thought he had the fucking right to call you that, he was _wrong_. You hardly even knew this guy, why on fucking _earth_ he thought it was okay to call you that didn't come to your mind.  
You where prepared to unleash your fury, when you felt a hand on your shoulder. You whiped your head around, to meet the heterochromic blue-and-brown eyes of your father.

He gave you a look that clearly said _'calm down, please'_ , which you proceeded to do your best to do.

You where still pissed off, that much as for sure, but instead of yelling you let out a small hiss at the other man.

"don't _ever_ call me that _again_."

He still looked thoroughly confused, but gave a nod.

You weren't satisfied, but it would have to do. You needed to quench your burning throat.  
You nabbed the first cup you saw- which turned out to be a jar- not caring if it was dirty, and turned on the tap, filling it up with what turned out to be lukewarm water.

It was disgusting, but honestly you didn't care. So long as it stopped the burning, it could be more than lukewarm and you wouldn't give two shits.

After you where done, you left the glass next to the sink and headed towards the entrance.  
"Uhm, Sollux the dirty glasses don't go there, we put them in--"

You turned around yet again, glaring at the man you where starting to hate more and more. God, you didn't care if he was your step-father, you wanted to fucking _murder_ him.  
"I don't give a fuck where you put them, that's where a put it and that's where I'm leaving it." You practically snarled at him, curling your lip in both anger and disgust at this excuse for a guardian. _GOD_ you hated him.

"I'm leaving." You stated, turning back around and grabbing your bag.

"Sollux, d'you even know where the school is?" You heard your father ask.

You shrugged before sitting down to slip on your shoes.

"No fucking idea, but I'll figure it out." You said, finishing just as you slipped your other shoe on. You had lost two of your shoes in the move, so as of current you where wearing a black shoe and a white shoe of the same brand. You kind of liked it.

"Okay, just be careful." He told you. You could hear an undertone of worry in his voice, but you appreciated how he didnt actively try coddling you.

"Ill be fine." You muttered, opening the door.

"Bye." You threw the word over your shoulder, before heading out the door and shutting it behind you.  
______________________________________________________________________________

The walk to school was actually surprisingly easy, apparently you lived near a mod of high school kids who all walked to school, so you just followed them. Lucky you, they lead you right to your high school- or, what you supposed was your high school. 

The lettering on the building read **Blue River High School** , which you found to be a dumb name for a high school, so you supposed it was where you were supposed to go. And if not then oopsie fucking doo. It wasn't like you actually cared.

You entered the high school reluctantly, before strolling around to find the main office. Weren't they usually right by the door? You couldn't remember.

Just in case, you turned back and headed to where you thought the front doors where. Damn, you where already lost as all hell.

You where looking for signs to help you figure out where you were, when you bumped into someone.

You where thrown backwards and landed on your computer bag- shit!

You completely ignored the other person in favor of quickly opening your bag to check on your laptop- you needed your laptop.

"Hey douchemuffin!" You heard someone yell. 

_'Hey, fuck off._ ' You thought to yourself as you looked over your computer, which seemed relatively unharmed on the outside.You hoped the screen wasn't fucked up or that you hadn't destroyed the memory card. But that might have to wait for later, seeing as someone just plucked your laptop out of your hands.

Angrily, you stood up and stared at the culprit- who was a good few inches shorter than you. 

"Give it back." You demanded.

"No fucking way, Dickmuncher! Apologize for bumping into me first!" 

"Give it back before I much your dick _clean fucking off_." You threatened, hoping you looked threatening enough despite your awkward feeling posture.

"I'm _sorry_ , was that a fucking _threat_?" He questioned, getting up on his tippy toes to try and match your height.

You opened your mouth to say something, when the bell rang. 

He scoffed and threw your laptop down the hall, which meant that it landed right under someones foot, before heading off.

You watched in terror as people somehow managed to not notice your laptop and step all over it, utterly destroying it.

"No.." You whispered quietly.

The hallway cleared out and you ran to your laptop, falling to your knees beside it and beginning to tear up.

"no no no no no.." You held back a sob and picked it up gingerly, gazing at all the dents and bends. There was no way to save it.

Cautiously you turned it over- the back had pretty much been broken off. You gently picked it off and looked at the circuits and battery and all that.

It didn't look good, and you honestly doubted it was any good. 

You gazed near-silently- exlcuding your shaky breathing and near sobs- at the four words that you could really only make out because you'd read over them so many times.

_Property of Bianca Captor._

You sniffled and picked up all the pieces you could find, placing it all in your computer bag before gently picking it up and heading to the nearest exit. You needed to go home.  
______________________________________________________________________________

"Sollux, you're back already?" Your father questioned as he saw you enter the house.

You said nothing, letting out little sniffled as you shut the door and took off your shoes.  
You could hear him drop whatever it was he was working on and rush over to you. Of course something was wrong, you where crying. Something had to have happened because you only ever cried when you where really upset.

"Sol..?" He whispered, gently placing a hand on your shoulder and attempting to guide you to the couch. You sat down and gently placed the computer bag on your lap, and stared down at it as you cried.

Your father followed your gaze, before a worried look came over his face.

"Sol.. what happened?" He asked quietly, turning his gaze back to you.

"I- he.." You struggled for the words, but nothing would form right.

Well.. a picture's worth a thousand words, right?

You gently handed over the laptop, and he gently opened it up.

He pulled it out carefully and let out a small gasp, staring at it for a few moments before placing it on the coffee table.

"Sol, how did this happen?" He looked at you gently- he knew it wasn't your fault. You where always so careful with the laptop.

"Some kid, _*sniffle*_ , threw it into the middle of the rush of students and they... i don't know how but the somehow managed to not notice and trampled it." You explained, almost choking on your words multiple times.

Your father nodded in understanding.

He had been looking at the laptop since maybe 1/4th of the way through the story, and he turned his gaze back to you now.

"How about you go to sleep or something, I'll see what I can do about recovering the data.." He obviously didn't have much hope- and neither did you- but he would try.

You sighed and nodded, standing up on slightly shaky legs.

Your father stood up and hugged you, rubbing your back gently a few times before sending you on your way.

Halfway up the stairs you realized you left your bag at school, but honestly you didn't really care.

You got into your room and crawled into your bed and hid under your blanket, staring at nothing as you quietly sobbed.

The last memory of your mother, destroyed.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ba-ba-ba-da!! Midnight update- Sunday Morning!
> 
> I'm going to try and update this weekly- on Sundays! 
> 
> Please forgive me if this is bad!

You stayed in your bed for days after the incident- maybe even weeks. Your dad brought in food but you only ate nibbles, at most a few bites every time. any liquid was left untouched unless you felt parched, and even then it was rare that even half the glass was gone. You knew your dad was worried about you, but at this point you didn't care.

It was practically a repeat of when you first lost your mom, which was the reason you where still only in 10th grade.

You spent hours upon hours just staring at things, hardly moving. Every time you came out of your room to go to the bathroom you could practically hear your father hold his breath hopefully, and every time you could practically feel the waves of sadness radiate off him once you went back into your room. 

You couldn't bring yourself to care even if you wanted to. Your mind was practically blank save the fact that you where once again mourning over the loss of your mother. You where sad, angry, and wanted to die all at the same time. Your heart felt like it had been ripped out of your chest but you could still feel the pain it was going through, and you felt so hollow. Like a shell of who you had been, like you lost all the progress you made in getting over her. And it was awful.

But there was nothing you could do about it, and you where in no condition to go anywhere in both mental and physical respects.

It didn't help that a few days after the initial incident, your dad came in and told you that he tried everything he could, but there was no way to get anything off of the remains of the laptop. The last proof that Bianca Captor had ever existed- excluding you- was gone.

After you-have-no-idea-how-long, your dad called up the school to report the incident, and they had requested you come in to tell them and identify the person who did it.

And so, reluctantly, you where going to do it.

You knew you looked awful, you had bags under your eyes and no doubt your eyes looked as dead as you felt. You where slower than ever before, and so weak that you needed help moving larger distances than your bedroom to the bathroom at first.

Your father hadn't made you get dressed, but you did anyways. At least, you thought you did. You couldn't remember. And you mildly cleaned your braces, which was something that really had needed to be done.

With a sigh, you slipped on your shoes and followed your family out to the van that belonged to your father in law- why the fuck did he own a van.

You shook your head and sighed yet again, before climbing into the back and lamely pulling the seat belt across to buckle yourself in.

Honestly you wouldn't care if you didn't and then you crashed and flew out, but your father obviously did. Besides, he might not be able to stand loosing two people. Well, it wasn't as if he didn't have his new husband and step-son, but.. 

But what? No! Snap out of it. Your father couldn't stand loosing you. You're important to him.  
You stared out the window quietly, watching as the scenery flew past as Brice drove down to the school, which you really didn't want to go to. Then again, you really didn't want to go anywhere.

You could feel your step-brother staring at you, gaze no doubt filled with sympathy or worry, but you couldn't be bothered to turn your gaze to him. Not that there was anything to really say, anyways. He didn't even know you. 

He couldn't even _begin_ to understand what you were going through.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Waiting in the principals office was not a fun experience, to say the least.

You were exhausted, and everyone had insisted on coming in with you. So now you sat beside your step-brother, with your respective fathers standing behind you. It was an oddly small office, so it was kind of crowded. And you'd much rather be alone, but they had all insisted on coming in with you. You honestly had no idea why- moral support or something dumb like that probably.

It took a while, but the principal finally entered, and smiled at the for of you, introducing herself as Ms. Peixes. You stared at her blankly, not really caring about whatever it was she said. It was only when she said your name that you started paying attention.

"So, Sollux." She began, changing her gaze from your dad to you, eyes going serious.  
"Can you tell me who broke your laptop?"

You sat for a moment, before hoarsely whispering, "My moms laptop."

You felt yourself having to hold back what tears you could produce, being as dehydrates as you where.

She gave your dad a confused look, being able to tell you wouldn't be able to respond to her.

"It was actually my ex-wives laptop- though it technically was his she was the original owner." He explained quietly, laying a hand gently on your shoulder as he did so. It did nothing to comfort you, but you appreciated the gesture.

She nodded in understanding, letting out a quiet "ahh", before rephrasing her question. 

"Sollux. Can you tell me who broke your mothers computer?" She asked- tone gentler than the first time.

You sniffled and nodded, however you refused to look up at her.

"He.. He was short.. and really pissy." You threw that last part in there mostly as a remark, but apparently that was enough for the principal.

"Ah. Of course. Thank you, Sollux, I believe I know who you're talking about." She turned and rolled in her chair over to a filing cabinet. searching through the one marked U-Z before pulling out a certain file and opening it, turning to to you. The photo seen on the file was that of the asshole who had ruined your computer- his name was Karkat, you now knew. 

"Is this him?" She asked, holding the file for another moment before lowering it enough to see you nod, confirming that Karkat was indeed the person who had broken your laptop.

She dropped the file, and rested her chin on her clasped hands, a smile forming on her face. It seemed almost menacing.

"We will have him punished accordingly, then. Also, if you come to school tomorrow we will arrange for him to have to publicly apologize. In front of the _whole school._ "

Oh now that was just cruel. To you, that is. You hated big crowds, and in general you could never stand being the center of attention. And you weren't sure you were ready to go back to school. And yet, the temptation of seeing him embarrassed in front of hundreds of people.. Maybe you could come back. Maybe.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When you got home, you didn't go straight up to your room. There was no doubt you still didn't feel all that great, you where still really upset about the whole ordeal, but.. knowing who had done it, and that they would get in shit, lended you enough comfort to stay on the couch to watch tv. 

You doubted school would be an option, but maybe within a week you could start going again. Not that you would be recovered then either, and you'd probably end up flopping horribly, but you'd be able to at least go. 

Your Dad brought you a sandwhich and some honey tea- a comfort tea of yours. You smiled internally, your mouth barely twitching upwards to show how you felt. He returned your smile, before moving back into the kitchen to do whatever it was he was doing. 

You managed to finish roughly half of the sandwhich, before deeming it enough. You'd have to get used to eating again, not that you did much in the first place. But you had definitly been able to eat a full sandwhich before.  
This had happened the last time too- only it had been a little.. worse, to say the least. In the end you did have to go to the hospital- not a fun experience. It was a good thing that you managed to move on sooner this time.

For a few hours, you sat and drank your tea while mindlessly watching tv. There was really nothing of interest on, but you had no real energy to go and get your computer or to do anything, so instead you wasted your time staring at a flat box on a wall.

Later that afternoon, Brice left to go to work. He took his soccer mom minivan- which you found to be really weird. Where did he even work? What kind of place accepting a soccer mom van as an appropriate vehicle? Why did he even have that? So many questions, and no answers.

Soon after he left, your dad came into the room and sat beside you. You could tell he wanted to start a conversation, and you could guess what he wanted to talk about. You took a deep breath, before turning to look at him and half-forcing a smile to come to your face.

"Next week. I'll start going next week, okay? And that means school too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, um. Yeah. This was actually about 500 words short of my goal, blech,,
> 
> Um, thank you for reading, and even just one review is writing fuel !
> 
> Also idk if it's just me but last chapters notes are coming up so.. ignore those-- sorry!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks a bunch to the person who commented earlier- i was dreading this because im a bit farther behind than where I'd like to be in the sense of how many chapters i have done. (I'm not even halfway done chapter 4- which is filler- oops)
> 
> also this is really bad but have a new character !

_beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. beep. bee-_

Oh there is no way we're going through this again. Your hand slammed around until it found your alarm clock, and slapped at the snooze button until it finally shut off. Good lord, why did that thing have to be made with such an annoying sound as it's alarm?  
Probably because it was more likely to wake you up, but currently you didn't care about that and would much prefer something softer or some shit. Yeah. That would be nice.

You let out the loudest groan you possibly could- for a multitude of reasons, and rolled out of bed. No, you didn't roll over to the end and stand. You didn't stand at all, in fact. You just rolled right out of bed, and onto the fucking floor. You were not aware of how close to the edge you had been. That was fun.

"Sollux? What was that?" You heard a muffled voice call to you from downstairs. Oh, just what you wanted. To talk to people. 

"Nothing!" You yelled back, before pulling yourself into a sitting position. It actually hadn't been much of a fall- you hadn't set up your bed just yet, and therefore only slept on a box spring and a mattress. But it was still enough to make a thud- apparently loud enough for them to hear in the kitchen. That fucking sucked. It also sucked that you realized you now only had enough time for either breakfast or a shower- and one of them you needed a lot more than the other. 

With mild reluctance, you stood up and grabbed the first outfit your eyes grazed over, heading to the shower. This was going to be _so much fun_.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------  
By the time you got to school, your hair was still wet. You had tried to shower as quickly as possible, and the result of that was wet hair. _fun_.

You sighed and tugged on your sleeves, heading awkwardly down the hall to the office. For whatever fucking reason, you had forgotten to get your schedule the last 2 times you had come in, and as another result you had been brought to school hella fucking early to receive it. Not that you being this early was going to make a difference in your attendance- as if you'd go to your homeroom. Those things were stupid anyways- no point. 

You had arrived in the general vicinity of the place- being able to see it- when someone bumped into you, sending you stumbling backwards. Memories of your first day here came back in a flash, and you had to hold back tears for a moment or two until your mind was cleared again. It was a good thing you didn't really care about your current laptop, otherwise who knows what would have happened.

You took a deep breath, before looking at the person who had bumped into you, ready to blame them because you were obviously headed the opposite direction and couldn't see them. They sat on the floor, legs spread at an awkward looking angle and leaning heavily on their arms, a dazed expression spread across their face. For a moment you internally remarked about how cute they looked- until you realized who it was. 

Of course it was him. Who else would it be, but the asshole of the century? Mister Karkat I-Break-Peoples-Dead-Mothers-Computers. Mister I-Bump-Into-The-New-Kid-Every-Day-He's-Here-Apparently. Seriously, what is that? In the two days you've been here for genuine school this guy has smacked into you and knocked you onto your ass. Who knew such a small person had enough force to do that. Then again- for a tall person you were pretty light. Actually, this kid was probably heavier than you. Yeah, probably. 

It was at that moment you realized he was back on his feet, yelling at you. At some point during your inner dialog about weights, he had stood up and found his way over to you, and was now leaning forward from his position near your feet, staring into your bi-colored lenses.

"--Got me a motherfucking full month of ISS and detention! It's fucking torture, and it's _your_ fault!" You tuned in just in time to catch him blaming you for an ISS- which you had learned before you moved here was term for In School Suspension. You had gotten one yourself before- but that was another story for another time.

You quickly got to your feet, and stared down at him, giving him an expression that you hoped read _"Fucking Really?"_

"What the fuck is that stupid face for, Dickfuck?" He questioned harshly- crossing his arms and glaring back up at you.

"I didn't _tell_ her to give you an ISS, but you know what you totally deserve it." You declared, crossing your own arms, and making glare-contact. 

"As if! It's not like it's really MY fault everyone trampled your fucking computer- and it's not like you can't get a fucking _new_ one!!" 

You tensed at this, your anger boiling to higher levels than it was at before he said that.

"It was my _mothers_ laptop!" You yelled, clenching your fists and consequently digging your nails into your skin as an attempt to keep yourself from hitting this guy. if you started, you wouldn't stop. That much you knew for sure.

"Boo-fucking-hoo! You're mom got mad at you because it's broken- who the fuck cares?!"

You struggled to find the words to retort with, but everything you tried to say got caught in your throat. You could feel yourself on the verge of tears, and you bit your lip harshly before turning away and storming off, trying- and failing- to keep your tears from beginning to fall. 

_What kind of fucking asshole says something like that?!_ You asked yourself as you angrily wiped at your tears. Lucky you it was early enough in the morning that few people seemed to be around, so it was easy for you to avoid people. 

Finally you found a little alcove under a set of stairs, and shoved yourself under there, curling up into a ball and letting your face fall onto your knees as you tried to calm yourself down, taking deep breaths and telling yourself that it was stupid to cry over someone not knowing that he had destroyed your _dead_ mothers laptop.

It took you a while, but you managed to calm yourself down to just sniffles- whic you sat there doing. That is, until you heard foot steps approaching your hiding spot. Lord you hoped that they would just walk right past you.

You saw a pair of red shoes and black-clad legs walk right up to you, before stopping and doing nothing for a few moments. You held your breath and stared at them nervously, knowing that- with your luck- they'd probably crouch down and bother you. 

And look at that- that's just what happened. A girl about your age with pointed red glasses and a half-sympathetic-half-curious look crouched down and stared into the alcove, squinting slightly as she tried to determine where you were. She must have rather bad sight, you determined. That might explain the red glasses- red was the color almost-blind-but-not-fully-blind people had to wear, showing off their proud i-can-still-kind-of-see status. You knew this because you had it too- in your brown eye. Thus the bi-colored lenses- you had asked for the blue as a customization. 

"Okay, so I can't see you, but I know you're in here. And I'd just like you to know, that this is where I usually hang out. But you can totally stay in here if you need to, I don't mind at all."

Oh. 

"I can leave if you want," You offered, starting to scoot towards the entrance/exit.

"Nope! It's totally fine, stay! I demand it- I hold you here in the name of the law!" The name of the law? You gave the girl a confused look. What on earth did she mean by that.. that wasn't even the correct usage of that, was it? Not to mention it was way out of place.

She didn't seem to take notice of this- probably because she could probably only see rough outlines and junk- and sat right in front of the exit/entrance. Clearly, she wanted to hang out around you. This was beginning to get a little weird.

"So! I'm Terezi Pyrope- who the heck are you, mister I-Hide-In-The-Shadows?" She questioned, giving you a huge-ass grin. It was almost creepy how wide it stretched.

"..Sollux." You introduced yourself.

"Well then, Sollux! It's nice ta meet chya! What do you happen to be doing down here, by the way? Not yannkin it- are ya?" She teased, pulling down her shades and giving you a wink.

"Jesus fuck! No!" You exclaimed in shock, feeling a blush come to your face. 

Terezi let out a cackle at your response, before managing to awkwardly slip out the words;  
"That's just what someone who was rubbin one out would say."

She then proceeded to burst out laughing again, managing to fall onto her back as she did so.

Jesus christ! You only knew this girls NAME, and she was teasing you about masturbating under the stairs, in a _school_!! And how many terms for that did she know, anyways?!

After a few moments of her laughing and you feeling awkward, she managed to calm down and sit up, still letting out little bubbles of laughter here and then.

"I'm sorry- heheh- I couldn't help myself." She explained as she scooted closer- which made you scoot as farther away as you could- which wasn't much. You didn't want to be all that near this girl, she kind of freaked you out.

"So! You probably know that I found ya cuz I heard ya snifflin- if you, uh, want to talk about it I can lend an ear." She offered, giving you a lop-sided smile as she dropped her hands in her lap.

You hesitated for a moment. You tended not to talk to anyone about anything- excluding your father. And yet the temptation of spilling yourself to this girl was strong. You felt you could trust her- almost as if she was a close friend of yours. 

"...Don't you have anything else to be doing..?" You asked- mostly to confirm she wasn't just doing this to get out of something or whatever.

"Nope! I mean, if you want me gone I'll go-- I just wanted to kinda help ya, ya know?" She gave you a genuine smile, somehow managing to look almost directly at you- her gaze missing by a few centimeters at most. 

You stared back at her, before letting out a small sigh.

"It's.. a bit of a long story, I guess."

"I have a long amount of time." She took off her shades and her smile grew bigger- likely happy that you were going to tell her about what had happened.

With another sigh, you began to tell your story.

"Well, I guess first I should tell you about my mom..."  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
By the time you finished explaining everything to Terezi, you felt a strange mix of emotions that you couldn't quite figure out. But you didn't really mind, and it wasn't like emotions were your strong suit anyways.

Terezi's hand had found it's way to your shoulder at some point during his recount, and rested there in an attempt to comfort him. It was nice, though it didn't really help a large amount.

After a few moments of silence, Terezi stated what you assumed was the first thing to come to her mind.

"That's rough."

You could feel the corners of your mouth twitch upwards just barely enough to be considered a smile, and dropped your head, letting it bob in some small sense of a nod.

Before anything more could come from either of you the most annoying bell you've ever heard went off, signaling that students should begin heading to Homeroom or whatever.

You watched Terezi move back into a crouching position, and you almost thought she was going to leave without saying anything else- not even goodbye. But instead, before she stood up fully she said one last thing to you.

"You should hang out with me at lunch! I'm in the cafeteria- can't remember what table though." She grinned, before standing up fully.

"See ya later, masturbater!" 

You think you're starting to like this Terezi girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha,, yeah,, i hope this is okay! ;u;
> 
> (Also again with ch1's notes showing up for me- idk if this is just for me personally but if it's happening for you all then idk why- sorry!)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of Awkward and there's a lot of people, but if you have to have a Lunch Group you're kind of glad it's these guys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's gr8 to be back!!!
> 
> Sorry the transition is so awkward, i wrote more than half of this without access to the first bit ;u;
> 
> In other news I just remembered a ship I really like and am totally making happen, beep beep get out the way cuz I cant wait.
> 
> Also I love Terezi and always will <3

"..You're homework for today is to read through chapter 4, and answer the questions on page 138." Your teacher droned on- or, he had said something like that. You honestly weren't paying attention at all. You didn't care for science, anyways, so you're zoning out affected nothing for you personally.

When the bell rang, you threw your bag on your shoulder as fast as you could, and tried to get out of the room before most of the other students. You hated getting caught up in a rush, but waiting always felt awkward and like you were taking up the teachers time.

You would have rushed to the cafeteria, in order to buy your food, but you had no idea were the fuck it was. Once you realized this, you slowed down and gazed around- however you didn't stop, not wanting to be a traffic block. Well, shit. This meant you were pretty much screwed. The school looked pretty big from the outside, and for all you know the cafeteria could be in some room that can only be reached through some kind of hall. 

However, lucky for you, the smell of the cafeteria was strong enough for you to be able to follow it, and it wasn't actually that far away. Surprisingly, the cafeteria was pretty much in the open- quite obvious, in fact. How in the hell had you missed it, you have no idea. It was probably some kind of miracle that you had done so- or something like that.

The line that was forming was already long enough for you to decide on what you would want- seeing as you had a hard time with picking food when it came to new foods. And so you hoped in the line, staring up at the menu and contemplating through the items on the menu. You had almost decided on what you wanted, when you heard a voice that still sat fresh in your mind from this morning.

"What's on the menu today?" Said voice asked.

The voice came from a few people down, so you knew she couldn't be talking to you. But still, you let the next few people in line go ahead of you, until you reached the spot next to her. You hoped you wouldn't be bothering her.

"Nachos- aw man I know what I'm gettin,- and Pizza." Another voice replied- or, more likely, finished replying. Oddly enough, this voice sounded familiar too. But you couldn't quite place it.

It hit you when you heard your step brother call out a fond nick-name of the second person, and then call out to you.

"Tulip!" He yelled, stumbling down the stairs and making his way over to the place in line where "Tulip"- more commonly known as Latula, you now recognized- stood alongside her hard-of-sight sister, Terezi.

"Hey, babe!" She returned his "greeting", lifting a hand to wave at him as he rushed over.

Of course it was at that moment that he caught you in his gaze- just great. Now you'd have to associate with your step-brother at school, too. The one thing you had hoped to stay away from.

"Sollux!!" He exclaimed, turning his full attention to you right away. You groaned internally as his girlfriend turned to you as well. Awesome, now you could talk to _both_ of them. You could feel yourself drowning in regret at moving down the line. So much regret. No one could swim in these levels of regret. It filled you head-to-toe, and even more than that. And even if you burst from an over-flow of regret, you'd still drown in regret because it would just re-fill the entire place. 

Okay, maybe that was a bit too much. But none-the-less, you felt regret at having moved down the line.

"Hey, hey Sollux! Have you met 'Tula and her sister yet??!" He asked excitedly, a huge-ass grin splitting his face. _man_ he was excited.

"Hey, no way! You know Latula's boyfriend?!" Trezi exclaimed, turning towards you and looking in your general direction. She was probably only so accurate because you couldn't be many places.

"Yeah!! He's my step-brother!!" Mituna responded eagerly for you. 

Terezi gave you a look that read "seriously?", but at the same time she had an expression of surprise on her face. Was this just unexpected, or had she not known you and Mituna were now technically-related at all?

"Yeah.. For about a month, now." Your tone was blank, hopefully signaling that you really don't care to talk about it.

Terezi seemed to be the only one to pick up on it, as Latula was too busy surfing her phone (probably returning a text, looking at the way her thumbs where moving,) and Mituna was just getting ready to spout off anything else. Before Mituna could get out another word, Terezi grabbed your arm and almost shouted to get you away,

"Blind girl comin' through!" And she dragged you through the line until you had a few people separating you two and the other duo.

"Thanks.." You said quietly, and she just grinned at you until the lunchlady called for the next in line and she sashayed up to buy her lunch.

\---

Once terezi finally paid for her gross-ass looking pizza, she stepped out of the line and gazed around the cafeteria- likely listening for her friends or something. If she would manage to pick them out you'd be amazed.

You watched as she turned slightly, and began to march between the tables, managing not to bump into anyone or anything. You found yourself wondering how long she's been Legally Blind, and how many times she's walked through here to know just where to go.

"Are you coming, AppleBerry?" She called out, having stopped and turned to look at you.  
You wondered where that nickname came from. She hadn't called you that earlier today- although she had been accusing you of getting off under the stairs.

You decided it was because you'd gotten a fruit salad for lunch. Of course, you only got it because you knew you wouldn't be able to finish a way-too-greasy pizza or processed-cheese-covered nachos. Or, so you assumed. You probably wouldn't be able to finish this either- but you could nibble at it throughout the day, even in class. Nobody could get pissy at you for eating healthy.

"Um, helloooo? AppleBerry?" Terezi called, snapping you out of your weird focus on fruit salad.

"Yeah yeah, I'm comin'" You called back, beginning to awkwardly slip between tables and people.

By the time you got close to her, she began moving again, assumedly towards a group of tables inn the corner arranged in some kind of L shape. How hey haven't been told to put the tables back, you have no idea.

"Attention, Nerds and Losers alike!" Terezi yelled, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. Probably because of her loud, incredibly distinct voice, rather than the call of "nerds and losers." You don't want to be around people who answer to that call

"I have brought us an Egg!" She declared proudly, moving to your side and throwing her arms out to present you.

Great, now you have a fuck-tonne of attention on you _and_ you've been called an Egg. What does that even _mean_?

"What's his name?" Someone yelled- you couldn't tell who. 

Oh god, please let Terezi not have miraculously forgotten your name. You're horrible around people- you don't really want to introduce yourself.

She grinned and began walking towards the group, balancing her food in onehand and using the other to drag you alone.

"Sollux! Mituna's new step-brother, so I'm assuming- since his last name changed- that this guy's last name is Captor! I caught him aiming for _sweet releasss_ under the stairs." 

She introduces you herself, and, _oh god she's bringing **that** up again_. Why is she holding on to that?

You heard a bark of laughter, and that time you're able to pinpoint it to a girl with hair cascading down to her mid-back, her lips painted blue ( _Coral Blue #5 comes to mind, but that's only because Mituna fucking **loves** Spongebob,_ ) and one of her eyes hidden behind a darkened lens.

"Are you fucking serious?!" She exclaimed.

A mix of your almost-yelled "No" and Terezi's confident "Yup" carries out over the group, and, god your cheeks are burning. Your whole face is burning, meaning you're probably blushing like it's your first and last time doing so. There was probably no blood left in your body below your neck, and it kind of causes you to blush even more, and now you kind of want to vanish. You're so freaking awkward- this is why you prefer the internet.

"Shit, man, his face is redder than a ripe-ass tomato with the reddest of lights shinning upon it that was then painted over with red paint more vibrant than the most vibrant red to exist,"

You can't help but wonder how someone could come up with such a long and stupid Metaphor ( _No you do not do that, your metaphors are fucking ace_.) 

And apparently you aren't the only one wondering, because the next thing you know some buck-toothed nerd ( _he had a Ghost Busters lunch box in front of him, you aren't assuming that he's a nerd based on looks,_ ) turned to the shades wearing guy beside him and began critisizing it.

"Dave! Not only is that a _really_ dumb metaphor- like, dumber than usual,- but _clearly_ Sollux-" he pauses, looking at you to confirm your name. A soon as you nod he's off again, chastising Dave.

"-doesn't want to be the center of attention, so let's just go back to out conversations, okay?" He says that last bit loud enough for everyone to hear, and you officially have a new favorite person.

Terezi took a seat across from Coral Blue, and for whatever reason no one else was sitting on the side of the table that you were standing at, so you sat down in front of Teeth and Dave. Teeth takes this as an invitation to overwhelm you with the names of, like, 10 people.

"I'm John!" He introduced, stretching out his arm so you can shake his hands- which you did, reluctantly.

"This is Dave." He lay a hand on Dave's shoulder, before continuing on down the line of people.

"Terezi's talking to Vriska," Coral Blue- Vriska- flipped you off at the sound of her name, not stopping her chatter with TZ.

"The clown is Gamzee, and the paraplegic is Tavros." He stopped for a moment, before he decided to stop being specific about who's who at the other table.

"Over there is my cousin Jade, Dave's sister Rose," You could pick them out by the matching-with-their-relatives teeth and unique hair.

"Her girlfriend Kanaya, Nepeta, Equius, Aradia, and Feferi! Oh, and I think Eridan's over there today, but he's usually over here." He finished off with a smile, and then Vriska decided to join in the conversation.

"Yeah, sadly. He's such a booother, but we have sympathy for his poooor friendless soul." God the way she stretched out bother and poor was already annoying.

Out of what seemed like nowhere, someone thwacked Vriska on the back of her head.

She let out an exclamation of shock- at least, you thought it was shock,- and then crossed her arms and pouted at Dave- who wouldn't even look at her.

"Daaaave!" There she does, extending things again.

"This is so freaking childish, why do you aaalways do this?"

Okay, so, now you're confused. Maybe you should just. Stop paying attention and eat your mixed fruit. Yeah.

As soon as you put a grape in your mouth- which has _seeds_ in it, fucking disgusting- Terezi scooched over to you.

"Sorry about them, Dave gets mad when Vriska's rude about Eridan and won't talk to her until she apologizes- it can actually be pretty funny, though. Like when she first asked him out but she hadn't apologized yet, so he just walked away, but then she _threw herself on him,_ and he fell down in the middle of the hall right _on top of her._ It dislocated her shoulder, but it was fucking _hilarious._ " She started laughing, and you couldn't help but join in. She was right- if that story was true, that is- these two could be hilarious. Well- the whole Vriska dislocating her shoulder thing wasn't exactly funny ( _okay, maybe a little,_ ) but the rest of it was rather funny to you. It also made you wonder if they were together. You couldn't help but pry.

"So, are they together?"

"Who? Vriska and Dave" You nod- crap she's legally blind, you hope she caught your nod.

"Yup! Pretty sure she has something going on with John, too, though. In fact, according to her John is a dirty, _dirty_ boy." She grinned and turned to face the direction of John, wiggling her eyebrows at a speed like no one you've ever seen. It was actually pretty impressive, watching those furry face catapilars move like that.

"Terezi!" John exclaimed, clearly embarrassed.

"What's'a matter, Johnny Boy? Did you _really_ think you could keep your kinky secret from ME?"

"I am NOT! Kinky!"

"Oh, I beg to differ, Egbert." Dave chimed in.

"Dave!" That was both Vriska and John, started, extended, and ended at the exact same time. The only difference was that one was a whine and the other was a plea for attention- it was kind of creepy.

"This kid has a thing for Dungeons and Pain- and he _really_ likes feet." Dave joked- or, you hoped he was joking.

"That's a fetish and no I DON'T!"

"Okay, Okay. I'll stop." Dave smirked- at least, you thought it was a smirk, it may have been something else,- and gave John a smooch. On the mouth. It was at that moment you realized that Terezi saying Vriska and John had a thing going on was _not_ a joke, and they were, in fact, polyamorous.

"Eeeeww! I may be almost-blind but I still caught that!" Terezi wrinkled her nose, then leaned over and pulled out a baggy from her bag that jingled with change.

"One dollar in the PDA Baggie, both of ya." She demanded.

"'Rezi, you're gonna drive us all broke some day." Dave sighed, pulling out a 5 dollar bill and handing it over, getting change back only after clarifying that it was for both he and John.

A smile had found its way onto your face sometime during the Kinky John debate, or soon after, and you found yourself watching this people interact happily. It was actually a rather entertaining thing to watch.

You could get used to hanging around them.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update! potential triggers and other warnings below. This chapter is skipable, but please read the last Note for a summary if need be.
> 
> warning for alcohol, kidnapping??, therapy, anndd implied roxy/dirk (in which they are nOT ecto biologically related since, yknow, non-sburb AU and all. and im aware Dirk's exclusively attracted to males, I'm so sorry to all those who prefer to really respect his non-labeled sexuality but i just. like dirkroxy so. AU in which he's at least a lil straight? or Nonbinary Roxy and he's homoflexible in the sense he'll go for males and nb people? ahh idk sorry ;u;)
> 
> anyways this is honest to god a half filler chapter so i can introduce a certain character who plays a semi-significant role later on in the story.  
> im really sorry for making this go the way it did ;u;

"Your homework is chapter 5, pages 83-84, Questions 1 through 8. It's due tomorrow, so don't forget to do it." Your science teacher- Mrs. English, you think- wraps up class, looking pointedly at some kid who you assume never hands their homework in. Actually, you think it might be the clown guy from lunch. Somehow, you aren't surprised.

The obnoxious-as-fuck bell rings soon after, and you shove all your crap into your bag, before zooming on out.  
You would have taken your sweet-ass time, as you used to back in Red Rock (what is it with you living in towns with colors in the names- and conveniently your favorite color combo, too,) but you had an appointment set up for half an hour after school, which meant you had to drop your shit off at home and get over there ASAP.  
That's what you get for assuming that Blue River let out out at the same time Red Rock had.

Once you had reached you locker and grabbed everything you would need for homework- which turned out to be most of it, heavy work for a day where you already had 80 minutes reserved for something important. Important and already paid for. You couldn't not go and waste hundreds of dollars,- you immediately headed out, speed-walking back to your house.

Your dad was waiting for you by the door, smiling as you hurried in and dropped your bag. He stopped you before you could hurry into the garage to grab your bike, causing you to start complaining.

"Dad! I have to go _now_ or I'll be late-"

"Relax, Sollux. I managed to get your appointment moved far enough that you don't have to hurry, okay?"

You let out a heavy sigh, filled mostly with relief.

"Thanks." You let the word out with the sigh, before turning from your dead and heading to the garage at a more relaxed speed.

"Oh, and, Sollux." Your dad stopped you again and you turned around, one eyebrow raised in the question of "what?"

"Please be nice to Miss Lalonde, she's really a wonderful person and I'm not sure she can handle any rudeness today."

You wanted to know why he thought that last bit, but instead of questioning him on it, you give a simple nod.

He smiles an almost relieved smile, then turns away, heading towards the stairs.

Okay... that was odd.

You shook your head, and then headed into the garage to grab your bike. You needed to get to your appointment.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Waiting was probably the worst park about pretty much anything.

Not only is it boring, but in this case the suspense was _killing_ you.

You wanted to know what Miss Lalonde would be like, and you also wanted this all to be over with. You hated these appointments you hated new people, too. You had just gotten comfortable with the old guy, and in a cruel twist of fate your dad got re-married and moved you _miles_ away from your old town.

It was at that moment that you saw somebody leave the room you're destined to fo into, and your eyes came across a clock. 4:20 PM. That clown- Gamezee?- from lunch was probably getting high, and the next person to enter that room was-  
"Sollux Captor?" You.

With a small exhale, you stood up and walked towards the door where Miss Lalonde waited to take you into her office- or whatever- so she could ask you pointless fucking questions. Or, that's what you thought would happen, until you entered a room with every window open, incense burning, way too much air freshener sprayed around- oh, your poor nose,- and the smallest hint of alcohol underneath it all.

She'd been drinking- she was probably at least buzzed- and there was a spark of guilt in her eyes. You could only assume she had or was trying to quit, and this had been a moment of weakness. When you really listened, you could even hear a small slur in her words- like she was trying _really hard_ to hide it.

"So, Sol-lux." She had to pause to finish your name.

"I'm Miss Lalonde, 'nd I'll be yer therapist. So- um- it says here that you get chronic migrains, you're.. Bipolar, an; you have renewed issues with yer mom'z death." She read off a sheet of paper no doubt filled with all of your issues, then looked at you, waiting for you to respond.

You nodded, and then proceeded to blurt out a question you immediately regretted asking.

"Why are you drinking? Didn't you quit?"

Her eyes widen in shock, and her mouth drops open, as if she had wanted to say something. You could tell the spark had turned into a flame, so to speak, and she was rushed with a wave of somewhat pent up guilt.

When she recovered from the shock of your sudden question she let out a dry laugh.  
"You're a smart kid, huh?" She smiled at you- although her eyes didn't look happy. In fact- she looked tired.

"Ahhh... yeah, I been tryna stop, I really have... 't's hard, but m' friends an' m' boyffriend were helpin' me ou'd. Bu' naow 'm s'bgle 'n' Janey go'h mad a'h me cuz she wan'ed ta hang out wi' Jack- Jake instead a' helpin' me fin' my fuckin' _kid_ \- i jus' wan'ed her ta message him 'n' ask if Dave's fuckin' okay. He wen' an' took my kid outta school, said 'e had a right t' one a th' twins.."

She trailed off, tears now brimming in her eyes.

Holy shit what the fuck was going on in this poor woman's life.

She was a struggling alcoholic, who was doing her best to stop drinking, that had just lost her boyfriend for unknown reasons, had her assumed best friend her because because she was worried about her _child_ , and had said child _stolen_ from her.

And by the sounds of it, it had all happened in a rather short amount of time.

"Have you considered filing a kidnapping report for your son?" Your question was also a suggestion, as you has assumed she hadn't. It was still rather early, and she seemed to distressed to have thought about it.

And it looks like you're right, because she shook her head.

"No... 'nd I don' th'nk I will. I men-mean, he does have a right t' one a th' twins, he _is_ their da-hic-ad after awll." You think you can detect a Brooklyn accent coming through in her sad, slurred speech.

"How long have you two been together?" You asked, your curiosity getting the better of you.  
If he was the father and their children were in school, they'd have to have been together at the time of conception.

"Uh... since aroun' the time we gradiat-grad-you-ate'd High Skull-Schoool."  
Holy shit that's a long time.

"You've been together that long and he's breaking up with you _now_? What's up with that- he's put up with you this long. So why now? Is there a reason that you know of?"

Her head drops, and suddenly you feel bad for asking the question, because she looks really fucking upset about whatever the answer is.

"You don't have to tell me-!" You start.

She shakes her head and looks at you with that sad smile that's kind of starting to break your heart. And that's sating something- usually you're a heartless asshole.

"'s fine." She murmured, before letting out a deep sigh and beginning to tell you what may have been the cause.

"So, I gots one a them AA friends, who doesn't 'v'n go if somebody doesn't make'er, an' she won' ev'n try ta stop drinkin'. An' it wuz my turn t' bring her inta th' meetin', so we were hangin' out a'd her place. Sheh star'ed drinkin', bu' I jus' ask'd fer pop cuz, y'know, tryna quit. Sh; starde' sneakin' me alcohol 'till I starded ta drink straight up. We skip' tha AA meetin' an' I en'ed up stumblin' home drun-hic-nk. I th'nk 't quz then tha' he jus'... got sick'a me or sumthin', I dunno." She shrugged as she finished off her story, and she tried to act non-challant even through she was so close to tears that a few may have actually spilled over.

You stood up and moved closer to her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"I'm sut it'll turn out fine..." You tried, hoping that would help.

She giggled in a way you can't quite describem and tears began streaming down her face freely.  
"I don't know.. It's so fucking hard, Sollux." She sobbed, turning towards you and throwing her arms around you.

Normally you'd've pushed her- or whoever the culprit was- off of you, but you could tell she really needed this, so you awkwardly returned the hug and rubbed her back.

"Listen, Miss Lalonde, I-" You started, only for her to cut you off.

"Roxy. I know 's unpprfession'l, but call me Roxy. Please."

That wasn't weird at all.

"Okay... Roxy."

You glanced at the clock, noticing that a good amount of your session had been spent focusing on the issues of your therapist. You didn't really mind, seeing as you hated therapy sessions anyways.

"I think.. I think you should keep trying to contact your boyfriend. Or at least your son, if you have any way you can. I think, if you can get a hold of him, and talk to him.. It'll turn out okay." You told her, patting her back gently as you did so. 

She pulled away with a sniffle, and looked up at you. Her eyes were already puffy and red, her mascara smudged around her eyes.

"Yeah.. Yeah, thanks." She gave you a small smile. Small, but the first genuine one you'd seen from her.

"No problem." You smiled back at her, and broke any physical contact the two of your had by moving to the door.

"I, uh. I don't think we'll get anything else done today. So I'll just. Go." You stated, slowly turning the knob on the door in hopes of getting out 20 minutes early. You could probably just go buy some Bubble Tea or something so you wouldn't get home early.

She looked at the clock and snorted, before nodding.

"Yeah, you're probably right. You can go if you want, kiddo."

Oh god why would she call you kiddo. That was a little weird.

"See you.. whenever.." you murmured, before slipping out the door as fast as you could.

Thank god that was over with, now you could go get your god damn Bubble Tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> all spelling errors are intentional.  
> if you cant understand whats being said please let me know and i will edit in "translations" down here.  
> Also i swear to god the "your homework is chapter 5" thing was totally unintentional, i was just thinking about "hmm well if sollux joined around this time and their semesters work like mine then how far along would they be?" sO 
> 
> So yeah Roxy's a big mess who's also Sollux's therapist but then Sollux ends up getting her to talk and comforting and trying to help her ohoho role swap


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler Filler Filler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but I'm suffering MAJOR writers block for this chapter?? It's kinda filler anyways, though.. I swear there was gonna be more but I have bad bad writers block and yeah.. I'll do more in future chapters to make up for it though!! Promise!!
> 
> Edit: Fucked up the coding and didn't notice, sorry!

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and today is your first day back in normal classes after your month-long In School Suspension.

 

You aren't sure which you honestly prefer- in ISS you're safe from the annoying people and the idiots of this school, but it's boring as all shit, and you're accompanied fucking _everywhere_ to make sure you come back, or actually go where you say you're going.  
Yeah, okay, normal classes beat ISS. Barely.

And that portion of winning all but vanished as you walked into your first class, Socials, to see somebody sitting at the desk that sat right against yours. 

Just fucking great- out of all the open desks, this kid chooses to sit at the one next to you.  
You _really_ hope they aren't the talkative type.

With a heavy sigh, you plop down in your seat and give a quick glance to the kid beside you.

You couldn't actually see his face, because he was staring at the window with his hood up. Boy, he really must be new here. Mr. Harley found hoods to be unacceptable in any case- nobody really knew why.

Some people assumed it was because of the whole "gang" thing once, but he seemed offended by that assumption and explained how that absolutely was not it. You managed to spend a whole class on gangs and hoods that day.

Ever since then people have discussed possible reasons why between them, and began shooting them towards him when it was either a really good one, or when the majority of the class seemed too tired, or something, to do the work.

So far you've heard things that ranged from "maybe hoods make it so its harder for him to identify students" to "Hey Mr. Harley, do hoods make you think of dinosaurs?"

You have no idea where that one came from, but it became a kind of in-class meme. Occasionally you would walk into the classroom to see a dino in a hood on the whiteboard. One time you walked in to see the most realistic, detailed drawing of a dinosaur in a hood you had ever seen. You actually had to pause and stare at it, absorbing in the mass of details on the board. 

The amount of time that must have been spent on that art simply amazed you, and you would have congratulated whoever drew it (yeah, it was that amazing,) but you never found out who did it. Nobody at all knew, leaving it a mystery to this very day. It's been a whole year since that dinosaur, which happened when Mr. Harley taught Grade 9 Socials. Funny enough, you had the exact same classmates you'd had that year. Excluding this kid you didn't know.

Oh well would you look at that, sometime during your thoughts about Hooded Dinosaurs, Mr. Harley had walked in.

"Sollux!" He snapped, causing the kid sitting next to you to snap to attention. Hah, this kid was going to get ripped a new one by an old man. Then again, it wasn't just any old man. It was Mr. Fucking Harley, School-Renowned badass.

"Hood. Off." He demanded, glaring at the poor kid seated next to you. 

The kid complied immediately, pushing his hood off to reveal his messy-ass hair. It looked like he hadn't had the time to tame it that morning- not that you ever did yourself, so you'd be one to talk if you made a comment.

Of course it was then that you recognized the kids face.

Oh, well this is just _fucking **great**_. You're sitting next to the kid who _put you in ISS_.

You let out the loudest internal groan you could- which was the same level as all your other damn thoughts, but one could pretend,- and dropped your head onto your desk.

This was going to be a great way to spend the rest of your semester, sitting next to a kid that you can't stand.

And, as you found out during the rest of the class, didn't do any work. At all. He literally just sat there, staring into space. And he didn't even get reprimanded like the rest of the kids would! What the fuck. That just wasn't fair- why was Mr. Harley letting this kid get away with this shit? What was so special about him?

God, seriously. How could someone even space out for that long. He just spaced out for like 60 minutes. Shit, that had to be some kind of record. Or at least some kind of weird talent. Could spacing out be considered a talent? Okay, you didn't actually give a shit. And you should've been paying attention to Mr. Harley instead of thinking about this kid- who you really wished would move.

"..This will be a partner project, and your partner will be the person you're sitting next to. Except for you, Thomas and Justin. Justin, You'll go with Mariana and Thomas, you're with Gabe." 

You let out a snort of laughter at his chosen pairings for the rowdy friends. 

"And just what is so funny, Mr. Vantas?" Mr. Harley turned to look at you, and you shook your head.

"You know Justin and Thomas won't actually DO any work unless it's with each other, right? Have you ever even _given_ them a chance to work together?" You questioned, glancing over at the two boys who sat together.

"And why should I believe you? Are you not a friend of these boys?"

"HAH! Hardly! I hung out with them a few times last year, but other than that they're more acquaintances than anything."

Mr. Harley adjusted his glasses and stared at you a moment longer, before giving the smallest of nods.

"Fine then. Thomas, Justin, I'm giving you this chance to work together. Mariana and Gabe, you two can partner up instead." He nodded at each pair as he said their names, and a loud high-five came from Thomas and Justin. What dorks.

It was then that you realized you would be working with the one person who did no work all class. Shit- maybe you should've been asked to be paired up with one of them instead. Maybe have said that Justin and Mariana would've spent the whole time making out, so you'd work with Justin instead.

"You have the rest of the class to discuss what country or state you will be doing, an to start on the project."

You whirled to face the kid sitting beside you, who was _still_ spaced out.

"Hey! Sollux!" You snapped, waving your hand in front of his face a few times.

He came back to earth soon after, and turned to face you. He was clearly readying himself to say something, until he saw your face. His neutral expression fell into one that was more upset than anything else.

"Don't tell me we have to do something together..." He muttered, and you gather that he payed some kind of attention to be able to figure that out.

"Unfortunately."

He muttered something under his breath that you couldn't understand, then his gaze turned a bit harsher.

"Fine. Give me your number or your address or something. We can meet at your house to work on it. Or something."

"Why my house? What's wrong with your house?"

"We don't exactly want you there. Considering you, oh, I don't know, _broke my mom's laptop_."

You, honestly, had no idea why he was so hung up on that. 

"Fine, whatever. Give me your phone." You demanded, holding out your hand.

Once he handed it over, you entered your info as a contact, and tossed it back at him.

Great, you get to work with a Dead-weight who's also apparently a big fucking Mama's Boy.

__________________________________________________________________________________

**To: Karkat  
From: Unknown Number  
hey gue22 who you fuckiing a22hole **

_To: Unknown Number  
Fom: Karkat  
I'M GUESSING IT'S THE FUCKER WHO ONLY GOT IN SHIT FOR HAVING HIS HOOD UP IN SOCIALS. _

 

**To: Karkat  
From: Unknown Number  
uh, ii gue22 that2 me ye2.**

****

** To: Karkat  
From: Unknown Number  
why the fuck do you type liike that though? **

 

_To: LISPY  
Fromt: Karkat  
MY CAPS LOCK KEY GOT PERMANENTLY STUCK DOWN, WHY DO *YOU* TYPE LIKE *THAT*? _

 

**To: Karkat  
From: LISPY  
my ii key ii2 2tiicky and iit happened 2o much auto correct got u2ed two iit. the 2 thiing ii2 becau2e my 2 key got knocked riight off by 2ome dog liike two year2 ago. and the two thiing ii2 becau2e ii dont giive enough of a shiit about the diiference between to and too 2o ii u2e 2. iit complete2 a theme, anyway2.**

****

** To: Karkat  
From: LISPY  
anyway2 iim heading over two your hou2e riight now, liike iit or not. al2o, change my name from lii2py or iill fuckiing wreck you.  **

 

_To: LISPY  
From: Karkat  
WAIT, WHAT?_

 

A knock at you door snapped you out of your confused focus on your phone, reading and re-reading the last text Lipsy sent you.

You cautiously stood up and moved to the door, and peered out of the peephole.

There you saw Sollux, doing something on his phone. You watched a few moments longer, before slowly opening your door.

"I changed my contact name in your phone." He stated, brushing past you and standing in your living room.

"What?!" You quickly pulled out your phone, and looked in your contacts to see that his contact name had indeed changed from "LISPY" to "2ollux"

"How the FUCK did you do that?!" You yelled, staring at the teen who was just staring around your house.

"It wasn't even that hard.." He gave you a look as if it was obvious, and you were left temporarily stunned at this, but soon were brought back to attention.

"Okay, well, what the fuck ever. Let's just get started on this god damn project."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been 8 months and I am SO sorry.  
> This is terrible oh my god.  
> I need to re-plot this all.  
> May I rest in piss.

Of course.  
Of course this would happen, what else would happen? You'd have a group of people you might call friends that _doesn't_ include someone you hate? Obviously not, then you might actually be _happy_ for once.  
We can't let that happen, now, can we?  
At this point, you're just about ready to go and sit with your step-brother and his friends instead.  
Of course that idea repulsed you far to much to actually follow through with it. Instead, you with ignore that table you had sat at for the past month, and would instead sit with the group of people who you didn't really know yet.  
Dave called out after you, but you just ignored him and instead sat down at the first open space you saw.  
“Why are you sitting with us today, Sollux?” The girl sitting across from you- who you identified as Dave's sister, Rose- asked.  
You chance a look at the other table, glaring at the person who sat next to Terezi momentarily, before giving her an answer.  
“Karkat.” You stated plainly, poking at your fruit salad.  
You had come to the conclusion that fruit salad was the best thing they had to offer here soon after Terezi forced you to try everything else. The pizza was way too greasy and had the feel and taste of cardboard- and the sauce was too strong. The chips in the nachos weren't half bad, but the cheese tasted like plastic (rightfully so, the cheese was totally processed.) They had spaghetti, but it came out of a can, which kind of grossed you out. And their burgers were really dry, and burnt. Terezi declared you sucked for giving it up after one try, but you could smell the burnt meat every time you entered the cafeteria. In the end, you decided to stick with the safety of store-bought, pre-packaged, mixed fruits. You trusted them.  
This, of course, resulted in Terezi continuing to call you “AppleBerry.”  
You had accepted your fate with near to no objections.  
“What did he do this time?” Your gaze fell to the girl who sat beside Rose as she spoke.  
“He's just gotten out of ISS, and I swear if he did something bad again already, I'm going to tell Kankri this time.”  
She paused, noticing your stare, and extended her hand to you with a smile.  
“I'm Kanaya, by the way.” She introduced, and you awkwardly shook her had.  
Despite getting gradually more comfortable around Terezi's table, you hadn't talked to this table at all, so the awkwardness you felt the first few days came rushing back full force.  
You assumed she already knew your name, because Rose had spoken it when you first sat down across from them, so you didn't say anything in particular. That is, until somebody plopped down loudly next to you, causing you to jump and whirl around with a “Jesus fuck!”  
“Hi~!” The girl who sat next to you greeted excitedly, grinning from ear to ear as she stared at you. “I was hoping you'd come sit with us soon, I've been wanting to talk to you for AGES, but I've been waiting for you to come over here first! I'm Feferi~” She giggled, and dear god this girl has a lot of energy and peppiness. And her hair.. her hair looked to be kind of wet? What the fuck.  
“I'm captain of the swim team, and I'm part of the whole leadership thingie and cheerleading! You're Seallux- oops, I mean Sollux- right?”  
You nodded, glancing to Kanaya and Rose for help. You were starting to feel like they were already your favorite people at this table.  
“I saw what Karkat did,” A voice behind you spoke almost right in your ear, causing you to jump and turn around yet again. Jesus fucking Christ, this table's full of people who like to jumpscare you apparently!   
“It wasn't very nice.”  
The girl who you now faced was staring at you blankly, speaking almost completely monotonously. It was honestly kind of fucking creepy.   
“That was your mothers laptop, right?”  
You tensed a bit, but nodded. Wait, okay, how the fuck did this chick know that? You were pretty sure you hadn't told anybody but the principal and Karkat himself of that fact.  
“Oh my glub! Aradia, you need to stop creeping up on people like that, you silly guppy! What if you scare him away??” Feferi rushed around behind you, although there really wasn't much space to cover, gently grabbing onto Aradia's arm.  
Aradia? Holy fuck, no way. As in, Aradia fucking Megido? Your previous best friend from Red Rock who had been forced to move away when intense ridicule caused her to have a total breakdown? Shit, she looked so different. Like she was barely a ghost of her former self.  
“No fucking way, AA, is that seriously you?” You furrowed your brow, actually managing to totally forget about the rest of the table right now. Except for Feferi, who was still clinging to Aradia's arm. You'd question if they were dating, but you doubted it. AA may have had a breakdown, but she would never break down to the point she'd do something she didn't want to do.  
You swore you saw a ghost of a smile pass her face, but it may have just been wishful thinking. The only thing you really got was a nod. “You two know each other??” Feferi blurted, looking between the two of you with wide eyes. As if it was absolutely impossible.  
“Yeah, we lived in the same town a few years ago. Before she moved away--”  
“Sollux was my best friend, I lost contact with him when I moved.” Aradia cut in, and you stopped in your tracks. You had almost blurted she'd had to move do to the ridicule, and you could just _feel_ that she didn't want them to know about it. There was no look she gave you or anything, simply you could just tell. Maybe it was remnants of the bond the two of you used to have.  
“Yeah,” You nodded, and glanced at Feferi as she took a small step to the side, blinking with still-wide eyes, before starting to smile.  
“This is him, then! Oh my glub this is your old best frond! Seallux thank you so much!” She squealed, letting go of Aradia entirely to throw her arms around you.  
You blinked, standing there awkwardly until Feferi let go of you. What the fuck was that all about?  
“Right.. AA, how have you been? God, you look so different.” You turned your attention back to Aradia, moving your legs over the bench attached to the table so you could stand up.  
“I've been fine.” Her voice was still rather monotonous, and you couldn't really respond in any way but nod.  
The way Aradia was acting here, you were beginning to feel as if Aradia had not at all recovered from her break down all those years ago. She said she was fine, yet she seemed to be so emotionless. This was far from the Aradia you used to know.  
“Hey!”  
You jolted when you heard somebody yell in your direction, turning your head to see a girl with buck-teeth and incredibly long, fluffy hair running towards you. You were fairly sure this was Jade, at this point. At least, it was who you had identified as Jade on your first day with these people.  
“Yoouu're Sollux! John's told me about you!! Hi, I'm Jade! I've been _waiting_ for you to come over here, I've wanted to meet you!” She greeted- at least, you think that qualifies as a greeting.   
“Uh... yeah, hi..” Jesus Christ, you almost regretted switching tables. Maybe you should've just put up with fucking Karkat, instead.  
Actually, scratch that. Fuck Karkat, you could put up with new people. Even if it was a little overwhelming.  
Besides, you had re-met Aradia. You were surprised you hadn't realized who she was before, but ultimately all that mattered now was that you had met her once again.  
“So what're you over here for! I thought you'd be hanging out over at the Cool Kids table for _ever_.”  
You glanced over at Karkat once again, and Jade followed your gaze.  
“Oh nooo! You and Karkat don't get along, do you?” She frowned, and you swore you could actually hear the frownie face emoji as she spoke.  
“Yeah, you could say that.” You shrugged, looking away from that stubby asshole.  
“That's no fun! What did he do?”  
“Karkat broke something of Sollux's.” Aradia stated, stepping in for you.  
Fucking bless her, she still knew when you were too awkward to do or say anything yourself.  
“Oh. He _can_ be pretty mean like that sometimes.” Jade stopped and dropped her voice into a whisper. “He has anger management problems.”  
You shrugged, not really giving a shit about his own personal problems. Fuck his problems, you had your own.  
“Well! Other than that, it's super nice to meet you, Sollux!” Jade grinned and skipped around the table, plopping down beside Kanaya.   
“Sit back down, we can all talk and stuff until class!” Another girl who's name you didn't know suggested, motioning to the end of the table for you to sit down somewhat next to her.  
“Right..”  
Well, this will be an interesting lunch, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, that was a thing. I would have done more but I wanted to get this out by the time I felt tired of writing today.

**Author's Note:**

> It has come to my attention that the first Note follows the rest of the story and places itself at the end of the latest chapter. So.
> 
> If you're reading this- R&R?


End file.
